Meredith, meanwhile, had tried to be patient. She had Susanne had been best friends for the longest time, so to her, Susanne's laughter and smiles sounded and looked transparent. She went along, though, joking and telling funny stories from home. She had to admit, though, that she was a little frustrated with Roger. Didn't he know what kind of effect his leaving would have? Dionysus stayed with Celly.

Meredith humored Susanne and went into a music store with her. Unfortunately, Susanne's eyes landed on the Lifehouse/Who's Next poster that was prominently displayed behind the counter. She left the store almost immediately, fighting back tears. They had gone back to Friar Park after that.

As soon as she entered the house, Susanne shot out running, and before long had effectively lost the others. Unless you had spent weeks exploring this enormous house, you didn't know it. Susanne made her way to the top floor. Not even George and Olivia came up here anymore. The last rays of sunlight streamed in through the west facing windows. It was as good as deserted. Over Christmas break, she and Dhani had talked about how fun it would be to have a party up here. It was just one big open room.

That all felt as if it belonged in another lifetime. Maybe it did. She was Otaku now, that much was certain. To be honest, she didn't remember much of her life before London anymore. She remembered that she had lived in California, but not much more than that. She vaguely remembered sitting on a warm beach... cheering from the third row at an Angels game... watching the MuLan parade at Disneyland... the Lion King parade... Oliver and Company...

She shook her head as her eyes adjusted to the near darkness and turned her back on the room.

-----------

"Susanne!" Meredith cried when she saw her friend descending the stairs. "Where did you go?"

"I just needed a break," Susanne said quietly. "I'm fine now. Honest."

Meredith looked a little skeptical, but shrugged and grinned. "Come on, Kristsi rented a movie!"

The girls ran into what had been dubbed the TV room and found Kristsi, Kell, Zeke, Anaera, and Orpheus seated around the TV. Susanne greeted Anaera and Orpheus, who raised their eyebrows but said nothing of her missing shadow.

At eleven, Susanne stood and yawned. "I think I better turn in," she said.

"You haven't even been awake for half a day!" Meredith protested. "Lazy, lazy!"

"Damn straight!" Susanne answered back. "G'night, guys!"

The others called goodnight to her as she made her way to her room.

She wasn't tired. She just couldn't sit and watch TV anymore. She paced her room for awhile, then gave up. She had slept last night and much of today, and now she was restless. She looked out the window. The full moon reflected off the ponds and bathed the grounds in an almost eerie glow.

Susanne changed out of her cargo pants into blue jeans, and threw her black Disneyland sweatshirt on over her white tennis shirt.

Carrying her Nikes, she softly tiptoed to the kitchen and put a couple Cokes in her HammerSpace, and left. She sat on the doorstoop and put her shoes on, and stood up and made her way to Konan.

She didn't really expect to find him, but she couldn't just sit around. The thoughts nagged at the back of her mind and wouldn't let her rest.

Everything looked different at night. She ran through London and was quickly in Konan, and she started walking.

Roger? Are you there?

Silence.

Dammit, Roger, where the hell are you?? She wanted to scream out.

Turn around.

She whirled around to see a figure approaching from the distance and began running.

"Roger!"

"Reinstated!" he laughed as he picked her up and hugged her. "I've been reinstated!"

She said nothing, just hugged him back.

They made their way back to London.